Ryan told reporters at a press conference that "physical
altercations" of any kind "are wrong and that shouldn't have
happened." He added that Gianforte "should apologize."

Gianforte was charged with misdemeanor assault after the
incident. Fox News
reporters who witnessed the altercation described a
scene in which Gianforte grabbed Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs by
the throat, throwing him to the ground, and punching him
repeatedly. Jacobs had asked Gianforte about
the Congressional Budget Office's latest
evaluation of the American Health Care Act released earlier
Wednesday.

Montana is holding a special election on Thursday to
replace Ryan Zinke, who was appointed Secretary
of the Interior by President Donald Trump. Ryan said he didn't
think Gianforte's behavior was "acceptable," but that the choice
to elect him "will be made by the people of Montana."

Gianforte's spokesman, Shane Scanlon, released a statement
alleging that Jacobs had approached the candidate
aggressively and without permission.

"He entered the office without permission, aggressively shoved a
recorder in Greg’s face, and began asking badgering questions,"
the spokesman said. "Jacobs was asked to leave. After asking
Jacobs to lower the recorder, Jacobs declined. Greg then
attempted to grab the phone that was pushed in his face. Jacobs
grabbed Greg’s wrist, and spun away from Greg, pushing them both
to the ground."

On the audio, Gianforte can not be heard asking Jacobs to lower
the recorder at any point during the incident. Scanlon's
statement was disputed by a Fox News reporter.

"Faith, Keith and I watched in disbelief as Gianforte then
began punching the man, as he moved on top the reporter and began
yelling something to the effect of ‘I’m sick and tired of this!"
the reporter, Alicia Acuna, recounted on Wednesday.

"To be clear, at no point did any of us who witnessed this
assault see Jacobs show any form of physical aggression toward
Gianforte, who left the area after giving statements to local
sheriff’s deputies," she added.

Top congressional Republicans remained mostly quiet about
the incident hours before polls were to open in Montana on
Thursday. Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter told The Associated
Press on Thursday that it was "not appropriate behavior,
unless the reporter deserved it." Republican Rep. Charlie Dent
told NBC that while the conversation should always be "civil," if
Gianforte won the election, he'd be "welcome" in the
House.

Polls suggest an unexpectedly tight race in the reliably
conservative state. Democrats are keeping a close eye on the
Montana contest and other special elections, which could
provide a glimpse of party performance in the 2018 midterm
elections.